Gentrification Flashmob

Downtown L.A. residents come up with an awesome flash mob to the tune of Wild Cherry’s “Play the Funky Music White Boy.”To all of those fighting gentrification in your communities, please share this video.

5 Responses to “Gentrification Flashmob”

I don’t really know anything about the gentrification issue you’re talking about. But, after watching this video as a "white boy", I get the impression that I’m not welcome in your neighborhood. My initial response is FUCK YOU! Why is it that people are only against racism when it’s their race that’s getting shit on? Do you think you would receive a choreographed video titled, "Stay Away Brown People" with the same sentiments? You want to know why racism won’t go away? Look in the mirror. What a bunch of assholes…

I understand the concept of gentrification. And I believe that you are capable of understanding the content of my comment if you want to. If being dismissive and coy is your answer to the issues I’ve raised, then I think your answer is more telling than you intended it to be.

I understood the content of your comment and I wasnt trying to ignore it..you first mention that you didn’t know about the issues of gentrification and assume that you weren’t welcome because "your a White boy." To put that to rest, that is why I encouraged you to pay us a visit. But, here are my thoughts regarding your Racism comments, so you won’t feel I’m ignoring them…Roy, you may want to see the video again. Did you not see how we were also talking about gentrifiers being people of color. The fact that you are assuming that I’m being racist when you have no idea on the issues that I stand for is crazy. Would you feel comfortable to know that some of my comrades who are also fighting gentrification are White and some of the people in Central City East being affected by gentrification are also White. Would your sentiments be the same if you had received this video from one of your White friends?

I honestly appreciate your openness to dialogue, but you didn’t actually answer my questions. You just gave me a list of your own. Which I will answer all the same…1) "Did you not see how we were also talking about gentrifiers being people of color."I did – which is another reason why I think framing your opponents as "white boys" is totally unfair. It’s not just white males, so why are you collectively referring to them white boys? 2) "The fact that you are assuming that I’m being racist when you have no idea on the issues that I stand for is crazy."I am making an accusation of racism without knowing the issues that you’re dealing with in the neighborhood, but what I’m addressing doesn’t have anything to do with those issues. What I’m offended by is that you are choosing to address your opponents by race. In WWII, the Japanese were wrong, but calling them "japs" is still offensive. It doesn’t matter what the issue is.3) "Would you feel comfortable to know that some of my comrades who are also fighting gentrification are White and some of the people in Central City East being affected by gentrification are also White."This just makes it more obvious to me that this isn’t really a race issue at all and that your attempt to divide the issue according to race, making one particular race the bad guy, is wrong.4) "Would your sentiments be the same if you had received this video from one of your White friends?"No. They would be different, and you might have a point here. I’m less likely to assume that a white person is racist against whites, or that a Latino is racist against Latinos, etc. People are given more slack when making comments about people of their own race and maybe they shouldn’t be. Black people get away with calling each other "nigga" all the time. Maybe more people should call them on it. I honestly don’t know.